Shadow
Shadow, initially referred to as Willow'''http://www.nickandmore.com/2013/07/31/disney-xd-august-2013-programming-highlightsXiaolin Showdown Episode 1 New Monk on the Block, was a secondary antagonist who was originally a new member of the Heylin side. She engaged in the fight against the Xiaolin Dragons for the mystical Shen Gong Wu artifacts to rule the world, or at least get a taste of the Lao Mang Long Soup. History Background Shadow was born when Chase Young created her from one of his ribs.Laws of Nature This rib underwent a few transformations, first being transformed into a clam shell that contained a glowing, dark red pearl, and then the pearl was transformed into baby Shadow. The clam shell containing the the new baby Shadow was then set down for the baby to quickly transform into her current form. Xiaolin Chronicles Season One In her debut, she was revealed as Willow, a candidate for the Xiaolin Monks' new apprentice. She and Ping Pong competed for the Xiaolin Apprentice top spot, as well as for Omi's attention. However, Kimiko was suspicious of her.A Girl Named Willow Later, Willow used her charm on all of the boys in the temple to seek information pertaining to the Shen Gong Wu vault. Kimiko began to grow more suspicious of her and eventually discovered her secret identity as Shadow while moonlighting.The Fall of Xiaolin Unfortunately Willow managed to guess the combination to the vault and its location, then stole all the Shen Gong Wu. She then comes back as with Chase as Shadow to battle the Xiaolin Monks, and together they managed to destroy the temple.The Fall of Xiaolin Shadow has helped Chase on many occasions as follows: participated in a Xiaolin Showdown instead of ChaseLaws of Nature, sneaked up on Omi and Ping Pong to steal and poison the Sapphire DragonflyOut of Ping Pong's Mind, delivered the Ring of Katsumi to DojoHeylin Within, questioned Chase's hormone-fueled actionsChase Lays an Egg, and searched for Master FungWho Shrunk Master Fung?. Shadow would usually take pride in being able to bask in Chase's evilness. She seemed to like the idea of having the "cat monks" under her control--especially Kimiko.Princess Kaila of the Thousand Layer Mountain However, after Chase's house of horrors was defeated he seemed interested in making Tigress his partner, which made Shadow jealous. It was later revealed that Shadow had some kind of connection to the Mask of the Green Monkey talisman.The Mask of the Green Monkey In Chase Lays An Egg, Shadow grew tired of Chase's stupid and unexplained behavior. She began questioning his orders, but defied him when asked to go inside the Xiaolin temple and get '''his egg. Furious with her actions, Chase dashed inside with his army of cats. Alone, Shadow decided to break the egg so Chase would return to his usual, evil self. Generally, as the time went by, Shadow grew more aware of Chase's shortcomings and less tolerant of his abuse. Personality Shadow, as she was still known as Willow, showed a very similar personality to Dyris when she stayed at the Temple. Like Dyris, she charmed the boys of the Temple to gain access to the Shen Gong Wu vault and further an agenda. Unlike Dyris, Shadow was under orders from Chase Young to do this, and failed to forge a positive relationship with Kimiko. As Shadow, she was cunning and hungry for power, as she asked multiple times Chase to give her the Lao Mang Long Soup. She also seemed to respect Chase and the Xiaolin Monks. She could become extremely jealous when Chase was interested on someone else, like Tigress or Omi. When Chase wasn't fond of someone or something, Shadow had the same opinion with the odd exception of Jack Spicer's robots (and possibly Jack as well). It was unclear if Shadow fully believed the tale of her birth in Laws of Nature, but she later comes out in Back in the Flesh Again questioning why Chase reportedly stole her memories. Around this same point in the story, Shadow had mentally cut all her ties to Chase and was waiting only for the perfect opportunity to taste the Lao Mang Long soup and gain the power she believed she not only deserved, but needed to escape Chase. Physical Appearance As Willow Willow was a Caucasian girl with blonde hair. She had green eyes and sported a white mini dress with a golden belt. Her boots were also white and gold in a matching manner similar to her outfit. Her hip-length hair always covered half of her features. As Shadow Shadow essentially resembled a female version of Chase Young with an inverted color palette, as both fought on the same side and shared design traits. Sported long blue hair ending in a curl, she wore a purple headband with a pinyin at its center, thick black eyebrows, light-green eyes and pale pink skin. The rest of her attire consisted of a lighter body armor similar to Chase's that only covered her chest and shoulders. The armor was primarily purple with lighter purple accents, matching gloves with a golden trim, a thick belt with an insignia similar to the one on Chase's sash, purple leggings with tuxedo-stripe-like color blocks in a lighter purple and black platform boots. Relationships Heylin Chase Young Chase Young created her as his Heylin Apprentice, and the two share a very comfortable relationship as they can even communicate telepathically. Even though Chase created her, she believed calling him "Papa," seemed "hardly appropriate." Shadow does not see Chase as a relative, and most say that Shadow is just a female clone of Chase. She was incredibly loyal and flirtatious towards Chase in Laws of Nature and carried on this behavior through Chase Lays an Egg where she began expressing her own opinions which differ from Chase's. Slowly over the course of the season it is revealed that Chase was abusing Shadow and she slowly became aware of this and refused to tolerate it. Initially it was just Chase refusing to compliment or acknowledge Shadow's skills and abilities, but seemed to praise anyone who wasn't her ,,Tigress Woo. In "Laws of Nature" Chase stated that when he became Emperor, Shadow would be his queen. Emperors and empresses are the highest ranked sovereigns, with kings and queens being the second highest. It wasn't until Chase sought to bring on Tigress as a partner that Shadow severely questioned her standing with him. This directly led to Shadow taking more of an observational role in Heylin Within, where normally she would have questioned "why Ping Pong?" Shadow instead stood idly by until Chase's plan fell through and she was able to gloat. "Worked out perfectly, didn't it?" To which Chase responded by transforming into his dragon form, pinned her against a rocky outcrop and snarled "bite me," before he bounded off. In the episode Rocco, Shadow casually commented on how Jack's surveillance drones were able to spy on the Xiaolin temple, but Chase's magic could not. With Jack as a witness, Chase glowered, grabbed a fistful of Shadow's hair, and pulled her face closer to his before it is heavily implied that he punched her in the face off screen. While she appeared later on in the episode, there is no back talking or extraneous speech. In fact, the signs of abuse virtually disappeared until "Who Shrunk Master Fung?" where Chase choked Shadow with a cloud of green smoke and threatened to turn her into something more mosquitoy and presumably swat her to death if she didn't allow him to turn her back into a bird to search for Master Fung. At the end of the episode, Shadow was shown watching Chase drink the Lao Mang Long soup, and then monologueing about how she needed to get a taste of it soon and leave his service. Once Chase fell into a meditative sleepBack in the Flesh Again Shadow waited about three months before attempting to taste the soup she had longed for. An astral projection of Chase appeared, flicked her across the cavern, then proceeded to remind Shadow that she would never be rid of him... until the astral form literally threw her out of the lair. Once Chase awakened and discovered that Shadow drank the last bit of his potent Lao Mang Long soup, he vowed revenge against her once the Xiaolin Order was destroyed. There was a small visual metaphor for Shadow and Chase's relationship in the single candle at the dining table featured in "Laws of Nature" and "Chase Lays an Egg." In the first appearance the candle was lit, in the second appearance the candle is not lit. Possibly an animation error, or to visually show that the flames have burned out. Jack Spicer While Jack first encountered Shadow as Willow, it was unclear if he ever put the two together as the same person. Jack went so far as to ask Willow on a date if he won the Showdown, to which Willow gave no clear response. The two never officially met until Laws of Nature, where Shadow was responsible for not only granting Jack's request to stay as a guest, but also expressed interest in his robotic creations. Shadow was the first character to do this in either series. The catch for letting Jack stay was that his Chefbot would have to cook a feast for Chase and Shadow to sample. While Shadow was extremely impressed, Chase was entirely dissatisfied. Possibly sensing this, Jack consistently addressed Shadow with his pleas to stay longer. When prompted if there was any housework related thing he could do, Shadow complained about the "kitty litters" that were all over the lair. It seemed that it was one of her few chores to take care of and she resented the task. Jack was later shown cleaning up said "kitty litters" in "Princess Kaila and the Thousand Layer Mountain." Jack and Shadow weren't in the same space again until "Rocco." Jack was at Chase's lair to install wifi, satellite TV, and a jumbo TV screen mounted just above the spying pool. The mistake of making a snide comment about Shadow and Chase's "hissing" forced Shadow to lash out at Jack with her chameleon-like tongue. Jack fell, but was caught by his safety line and became a temporary toy for the cats to play with. Shortly after that Jack witnessed Chase pull Shadow's hair. Jack's reaction to this was one of abject shock and horror. After Jack took off with Chase's Egg, Shadow tracked the boy genius down and hijacked his RV after immobilizing Jack with a trash bin. Before she could floor the gas pedal and drive the RV off a clif Chase and the Monks intervened. Before the fight broke out Jack asked that everyone try not to wreck the RV. The only damage Shadow inflicted to the RV was from taking others attacks. It was unclear what Shadow's true intentions were with stealing the RV and egg with Jack still inside. While transformed into a bird to hunt for Master Fung, both Shadow and Jack happened upon the old master at the same time. Jack gently shooed the bird away, though it is unclear if he knew it was Shadow or not. After Omi made a sudden appearance at the Showdown for the Backscratcher Shen Gong Wu, Shadow stated that she would help Jack to win the Wu. Jack gushes about how this would be like their first date. As the Showdown began Jack used the Monkey Spear, transformed, then tossed it away, offering Shadow his hand in a gentlemanly fashion. Shadow arched a brow and grinned before taking hold. The two proceeded to flawlessly win the Showdown, but not before Jack stuck his monkey face a bit too close to Shadow's and earned a punch, making her the sole winner of the Showdown. Shadow thanked Jack for the assist and darted off. Jack appeared awestruck then asked if Omi and Ping Pong saw what just happened before bragging about how cool he and Shadow were. Wuya It was unknown when Wuya first contacted Shadow, or if Shadow ever knew of Wuya's existence prior to the end of "Back in the Flesh Again." Regardless, Wuya getting returned to full strength and a solidly form seemed to be Shadow's idea and not Wuya's. It was heavily implied that the two teamed up, but were shown separate until "Call of the Dragon," where Shadow's vision lead her to Wuya and the Mean Girls Viper Club (MGVC) encampment. Shadow seemed uneasy about encountering someone she had recently helped, but Wuya's compliments and talk of "girl power" earn Shadow's trust. Xiaolin Omi Shadow, as Willow, manipulated Omi in order to tell her about the combination of the Shen Gong Wu vault. She also seemed to be somewhat interested in him, though it remained unclear if her intentions were the natural seeking of a powerful foe, romantic, or simple kinship. Shadow reappeared to Omi as Willow in "Out of Ping Pong's Mind," but only to taunt him before the Showdown. Omi called Shadow out on her game and she never again appeared to Omi as Willow. Omi served as a foil to Shadow. While both were students to powerful warriors, and showed great natural talent and skill, albeit on opposing sides, Omi was treated like a near equal by Master Fung. In contrast Shadow was always forced to be second best to Chase Young, and she felt his wrath on multiple occasions when she tried to right this imbalance of power. Shadow was also shown to have an affinity and weakness to water, though this was likely due to the moon symbolism associated with her. Kimiko Tohomiko In the episode of Princess Kaila of the Thousand Layer Mountain Shadow stated that one day she and Kimiko will have a special relationship that she will be able to read Kimiko's mind. She also seemed interested about the idea of permanently controlling the cat monks after full moon, especially Kimiko. It was unclear if Shadow harbored any romantic feelings for Kimiko, or if she just wanted to have a female friend to talk to. The Showdown for the Taho Snout in "Laws of Nature" had some questionable dialogue between the two. Powers and Weaknesses Powers *'Heylin Magic:' Shadow was a notable user of the Heylin Magic and she had several magical abilities like: **'Shapeshifting:' She could change her appearance, to transform into Willow, by using her powers. **'Duplication:' She could manipulate hand-held objects, like snowballs or swords and was able to duplicate one into two. **'Telepathy:' She could communicate telepathically with Chase, but only at close range through hissing. **'Size Alteration:' She could change the size of people, objects or even her own size, either through green beams or by producing a black smoke. **'Teleportation:' She could use her hair to teleport herself along with others. **'Shadow Mimicry:' She could transform into a big shadow that Ping Pong described as "la femme brune". **'Shadow Hiding:' She could hide in the shadows and use them as a form of teleportation. *'Superhuman Strength': She could grab Dojo in his giant form by his tail and swing him with ease. However she was not as strong as Chase. *'Prehensile Hair:' She could control her hair to grab on to objects or people, could form a blade made of her own hair, and stored a variety of things inside the thick locks. Abilities *'Expert Martial Artist:' She was very good at martial arts, but not as good as all the Xiaolin Monks combined, Chase or Wuya (in her human form). However, as seen in Chase Lays An Egg, she could surpass an emotionally unstable Chase with ease, by just using her martial arts skills. *'Attractive Female:' Like Wuya, she could use her beauty to lull the males into a false sense of security, so that she could manipulate them, though only as Willow. Battle Record Episode Appearances }} Did You Know...? *Shadow speaks with a Southern/Texan accent as Willow, but as Shadow she speaks with an Australian accent. *The birth of Shadow is a reference to the creation of Eve in Genesis. Like Eve, Shadow was made from a rib of man with whom she fell in love with. Also in reference to the Greek Goddess Aphrodite, Shadow is shown aging on a scallop shell right after she was born. *Shadow was originally going to be a female counterpart of Chase Young, as she shares most of his color schemes (same colored hair, eyes, armor, etc.). However, in the actual show itself, she takes on a blue, violet, and yellow scheme, and has light green eyes. *Shadow, Willow, Kimiko, and Katnappe are all voiced by the same person--Jennifer Hale. Have fun rewatching the Showdown from "Laws of Nature" again. *Shadow was initially meant to be a chameleon girl who served Chase's every whim. References Category:Heylin Side Category:Villains Category:Xiaolin Chronicles Characters Category:Heylin Category:Characters Category:Heylin Magic